Leap of 2008
by Marty Burton

In the huge gym at Mockingbird High School in Springleaf Fields, Apple Island, there were hundreds of people, and about half of them were teenagers graduating middle school.
Three rows from the front where a girl in a zebra-patterned dress was giving a speech, there was one girl who looked very bored indeed. She made a 'bleh' sound and sighed, but then, invisible to everyone in the room, she was surrounded by a bright blue flash.
A few seconds later, Dr. Sam Beckett looked up to see the girl in the zebra dress take a seat and a man in a dark suit take the podium.
"And so we present the Finch Middle School Class of 2008!!" he exclaimed, sending the audience into an uproar.
"Hey, Morgon," whispered the tall blonde girl two seats from Sam to the short, brown-haired girl next to him.
"What?" Morgon whispered back, the flourecent light flashing off her glasses as she turned to face the other girl.
"Look at that girl's dress!" the blonde pointed to a girl across the aisle from them. "It's... just... ew."
"Will the students please stand and join us on stage to recieve their diplomas?" the man in the suit said.
"Wait, time to go," Morgon said out loud, standing up.
Dumbly, Sam stayed where he was.
"Move, dammit, Sora! Stop fussing with your bloody dress," Morgon poked the blonde in the back. She walked forward until she noticed Sam sitting still.
"C'mon, Marty!" she said, gripping Sam's sleeve and pulling him up, nearly killing herself on the frighteningly high heels she was wearing.
"Uh... what?" Sam allowed himself to be pulled along and tried very hard not to trip over his dress. 'Wait, dress?' He pushed his glasses back up to a comfortable position on his nose. 'And glasses?'
The three stood behind a few other girls who were also dressed up. They seemed to all be friends, but soon the first girl's name was called.
"Kisa Tu."
"Alexandria Spiderwick."
"Melody Love."
"Anna Nelson."
"Anna Jones."
"Sora McCaffrey." As soon as her name was called, Sora strode forward, smiling confidently.
"This is it!" Morgon squeaked, smoothing out her dress.
"Morgon Smith."
Morgon squeezed Sam's hand, then walked forward to recieve her diploma from the two principals.
"Martha Lee Burton."
Sam didn't move until the girl behind him whispered, "Go, Marty! What are you waiting for?"
Walking forward, Sam inwardly groaned and muttered in a pained voice, "Oh, boy."

After a grueling graduation ceremony, trip to Baskin Robins ice cream shop, and a car ride with the lovely Burton family, Sam had learned that 'his' name was Martha Lee Burton, better known as Marty, that Marty was 14 years old, liked science fiction, and was very lactose intolerant.
Finally he had escaped Marty's parents Susan and Bob and her 11 year old brother Jake to Marty's messy pink bedroom.
Sam looked in the full body mirror. Marty was fairly short with shoulder-length and bright red hair, deep blue eyes, and purple glasses. She was wearing a long, sparkly, pale-blue dress with opaque (and also sparkly) sleeves.
"You're kidding me," he said to no one in particular, but then he heard the familiar voice of Al Calavicci behind him.
"Nope! But-"
Al cut himself off. He noticed a long sheet of paper laid out over a red LEGO box, a tin of Lincoln Logs, and a Barbie house. 'PERSONAL HISTORY PROJECT, Marty Lee Burton' it said across the top in purple and black letters.
Next to that was a multicoloured logo that said in big blocky letters, "QUANTUM LEAP'. Underneath this was a picture of Al and Sam, with the caption, handwritten by Marty, 'Quantum Leap stars Sam Beckett and Al Calavicci, Played by Scott Bakula (Sam) and Dean Stockwell (Al)'.
"Hey, Sam..."